Looking for natural remedies for cold and flu? We have here more than one remedy that can really help you out. Just continue reading.
Perhaps the most common health condition that people confront these days is cold, and of course, it more severe cousin: the flu. Although in most cases not life-threatening, the symptoms related to cold and flu make you feel miserable, this is why you’ll need a few useful natural remedies for cold and flu just in case. Here they are!
In This Article You Will Find:
13 Natural Remedies for Cold and Flu
1. Garlic, The Best Remedy for Cold and Flu
Here we have two natural remedies for cold and flu that use garlic, simple home remedies that you may find useful if you don’t plan to go out. Catch my drift?
The Miraculous Raw Garlic Cure
Swallow 1 clove of garlic each morning on an empty stomach, with a glass of water. This is a long-term remedy and it helps fortify your immune system, garlic being a mighty powerful antibiotic. Another way to use garlic in case of cold or flu is the following. Eat raw grated garlic (3 to 6 cloves per day). Peel and grate the garlic in the morning, divide it into 3 parts and have them before the main meals.
Be aware! Raw garlic in large quantities may trouble your stomach, so it’s best to start with a smaller quantity (2), and if you don’t experience any negative side effects increase their number. This treatment is not recommended for pregnant women, or for those who breastfeed!
Garlic Tincture Cure for Cold & Flu
The second remedy for cold and flu is the garlic tincture which is also amazing. This is how you can make it.
- Add 1/3 parts crushed garlic and 2/3 90° alcohol in a 1 L glass bottle.
- Macerate the preparation for 15 days in a cool and dark place.
- Strain the garlic maceration multiple times through a gauze.
- Pour it into an amber glass bottle, seal, and keep it in the fridge.
How to Use
Start the garlic tincture cure by adding 3 drops in 100 ml warm water and drink this first thing in the morning. Increase the dose daily, by adding another macerate drop, until you reach a number of 25 drops per day. From that on, decrease the number of drops until you come back to 3 drops per day. Pause for 2-3 weeks and resume. This is it! These are the two most effective natural remedies for cold and flu.
2. Propolis, a Natural Remedy for Cold
In case of catching a nagging cold, go directly to your local beekeeper and start this simple remedy because this is one of the most powerful natural remedies for cold and flu.
- Have 30 drops of propolis tincture, three times per day before mealtime and have one pill of Apilarnil (a traditional Romanian product) right before bedtime.
- Accompany this treatment with 3 cups of tea made from nettle, calendula, and yarrow.
Apilarnil is a bee product obtained from drone larvae and the nutritional content in drone cells. It has a white to yellowish color, a slightly astringent taste, and viscous, buttery consistency. The production period of apilarnil starts with the flowering of the first fruit trees in April and May and can continue until the beginning of August.
Propolis tincture (30%) is also amazing. Put 4 drops of propolis tincture at the base of your tongue, and 2 drops on each side of the tongue. Swallow down with water. Also, you can make propolis gargles by adding 30 drops of propolis tincture per 1 cup of chamomile or marigold tea. Make the gargles as profound as possible and swallow at the end. This is one of the most amazing natural remedies for cold and flu.
3. Clove and Cinnamon Cold Remedy for Cold
Both clove and cinnamon are powerful natural antibiotics, which makes this one of the best natural remedies for cold and flu. Here is how to make it. Simmer 10 g of cinnamon bark and 10 g of cloves for 10 minutes in 250 ml of water. Let the tea cool down, strain, and then add the juice of one big lemon or of two small ones. Also, add 3 tbsp of honey and 500 ml of rum, brandy, or spirits. Mix well and pour the content into a glass bottle. When you’re on the verge of catching a cold, 3 shots of this delicious remedy a day will do the trick!
4. Onion Tea Remedy for Cold & Flu
Onion syrup is one of the most powerful natural remedies for cold and flu. Finely chop an onion and boil it for about 5 minutes, slip the content and let it cool down until the temperature is OK for you to drink it. Sweeten the tea with a little honey and drink it in small sips. After drinking the onion tea go directly to bed and you’ll start to sweat. Onion can also reduce glucose levels, so if you suffer from low blood sugar or diabetes, we do not recommend following this remedy.
5. Onion Syrup Home Remedy for Cold
This is how you make the onion syrup, one of the best natural remedies for cold and flu. Peel 5 large onions, finely cut them julienne, and put them into a large bowl. Add 8 tbsp of honey over them and leave them to stay 1 day and 1 night. Stir with a wooden spoon, as frequently as you can.
You’ll see a syrup forming. Slip the content and pour it into a glass bottle with a cork and keep it in the fridge. Have 1 tsp of onion syrup 3-4 times per day and you’ll be just fine. Concomitantly with the onion tea cure, start an apple cure by eating only 0.5-1kg of grated raw apples a day with peels. Meanwhile, don’t eat anything else if possible.
6. Horseradish Syrup Remedy for Flu
Horseradish is another amazing natural antibiotic, and horseradish syrup is one of the most effective natural remedies for cold and flu. Here is how to make it. Peel and grate 3 kg of horseradish. Wash 1 basket full of plantain leaves and lay them on a clean surface to dry on their own. Take an 8 kg jar and start making layers of horseradish, plantain, and 1 kg honey as follows.
The first layer will be the plantain leaves, followed by a grated horseradish one, and the last one of honey. Lay down four layers of each ingredient. Seal the jar tightly and put into a dug hole in the ground to let it ferment for 40 days. Strain the syrup and have 3 tsp per day, whenever you’ve caught a cold or the flu. This is one of the most powerful natural remedies for cold and flu, I’m telling you.
7. Treat Flu with a Fir Syrup
Fir buds is another one of the best natural remedies for cold and flu, and also an amazing cure for cough and sore throat. You can make it at home or find it in natural food stores. Put green fir cones in a clay pot and then pour honey or sugar over the cones. The next layer is with fir buds and then comes another one of honey. Continue until the clay pot is full.
Close the pot with a lid really well and tie a clean cloth around the pot to keep the lid in place. Burry the pot in the ground for 6 weeks. When the time comes, soak the buds and cones off the syrup and gather them in a clean glass bottle. Have a few tsp. of this syrup a few times per day and don’t eat anything afterward for the following 2 hours.
8. Calendula, Chamomile, and Plantain Tea for Cold and Flu
Add 1 tsp of mixed calendula flowers, chamomile, and plantain in 300 ml of hot water. Boil the tea on low heat for 7 minutes. Strain the tea, let it cool down a bit, and then add honey and lemon juice. Have 2-3 cups of this tea per day for the following 2-3 days and you’ll be back on your own two. As simple as it sounds, this is one of the best natural remedies for cold and flu.
9. Plantain, Yarrow, and Mint Remedy
These herbs are some of the best natural remedies for cold and flu. Usually, drinking this tea for two nights in a row should do. Make a hot tea with plantain, yarrow and mint. While you’re having this tea keep your feet in hot water in a basin for 5-10 minutes. When the water turns slightly cold, pour more hot water over it. Jump directly into bed. The effect is very quick, no matter how strong the cold is.
Or try the elderflower tea, which is also one of the most amazing natural remedies for cold and flu. Pour 150 ml of hot water over 2 tsp. of elderflowers, let infuse for 5 minutes and then slip. Drink several cups of this tea multiple times per day. This tea is especially recommended for the second half of the day, and you need to drink it as hot as possible.
10. Scottish Showers for Cold and Flu
Paradoxically cold showers are one of the best natural remedies for cold and flu. Start with a warm shower followed by short showers with cold water (as cold as you can bear, for a few seconds). Start the cold shower starting with your left foot, then shower your right one and continue with the entire body. In the end, rub your body with a towel to stimulate the blood flow to move. Take the Scottish showers daily, in the morning, starting with spring or summer, and continue as much as you can. You can go on all year long if you wish.
11. Nasal Washes with Salt
Nasal salt washes shouldn’t have been amiss from our natural remedies for cold and flu list. Boil 1 L of water with 1 tsp. of salt for 10 minutes. Afterward, leave the water to cool down until it reaches body temperature. Pour a bit of the water in the scoop of your palm and inhale the water with one nostril, while the other one is stoppered with your other hand. Draw the liquid upon a nostril at a time and then let the solution come out through your mouth. Alternate so that both of your nostrils get clean.
Read Also: Cottage Cheese, a Natural Treatment for Cold
Follow the remedy for at least 15 days, a time in which your nostrils and nasal passages will be clean and you be able to breathe easily. Don’t go out while your nostrils are still wet, let them completely dry before you go out in the cold air.
12. Mustard Feet Baths for Flu and Cold
Another one of the most awesome natural remedies for cold and flu is mustard feet baths. Mix 150 g of mustard flour with a bit of cold water. Let it stay for 15 minutes and then add the obtained paste to 4 L of warm water (38°). Pour this water into a basin and stick your feet in it. The water temperature must not go over 40°, otherwise the mustard loses its healing properties.
Salty feet baths are also amazing for cold and flu-related symptoms. Make hot salty feet baths until the water almost turns cold, then go directly to bed and cover yourself really well. Cover your heat as well and take sips of boiled horseradish. This is one of the best natural remedies for cold and flu.
13. Essential Oils for Cold and Flu
The essential oils baths are the mildest way to prevent catching a cold or even flu. A great essential oils mix for cold prevention and treatment is composed of eucalyptus oils, mint oils, pine oils, and niaouli. These oils are some of the most powerful natural remedies for cold and flu.
- Add 5 drops of each of these essential oils into a tub filled with warm water.
- Before adding the essential oils dilute them in olive oil.
- Add the mix into the warm water right before getting in.
This treatment also helps activate the blood flow and aids the body warm faster, which makes it one of the top natural remedies for cold and flu.
9 Natural Remedies for Cold and Flu-Related Symptoms
1. Home Remedies for Sore Throat
Milk, Honey & Butter Remedy. Boil a cup of milk with honey and add a walnut-sized piece of butter inside. After the butter has melted, drink the milk in small sips, as hot as possible. Make sure you don’t get burnt, though! Drink this twice a day to calm down the sore throat and cough.
Egg Yolks Treatment. Mix well 2-3 egg yolks with 2-3 tbsp of honey and 2-3 tbsp of grain alcohol. Dissolve a little propolis in the mixture and have the entire quantity in 2 hours, while you don’t eat anything else.
2. Home Remedies for Fever
Cold Rice Poultice. Fill a clean sock with rice. If you experience fever, put the sock in the fridge and then on the forehead. If you have chills, heat the sock of rice in the oven and use it as cataplasms on the soles of your feet.
Hot Pepper Tincture. Make feet and hand wrist massage with hot pepper tincture made with spirits. This is no remedy suited for children.
Vinegar Soaked Sheets. Wrap the sick in water and vinegar-soaked sheets. Then wrap them in a blanket and directly to bed. Drink a cup of warm tarragon tea because tarragon helps down the fever. Small children can be wrapped in cold milk-soaked sheets or apple cider vinegar and apple-soaked sheets.
Willow Tea. Willow bark tea is amazing for fever and you should have a few cups per day. Did you know that willow is a natural aspirin?
3. Natural Remedy for Cough
Boil one whole (unpeeled) onion in 500 ml of water along with sugar until the water quantity drops to half and it turns yellowish. Drink in multiple rounds all on the same day. This is one of the most simple yet effective natural remedies for cold and flu.
4. Home Remedies for Clogged Nose
Raw Propolis Remedy. Add 3-4 grains of raw propolis in a tablespoon over the fire and inhale the smoke derived from warming the raw propolis. Inhale profoundly every time. Do this once or twice a day, a few days in a row, until your nose is unclogged completely.
Black Pepper. Boil black pepper and inhale on your nose to unclog it.
Honey and Horseradish. Make a simple composition with honey and horseradish and have 1 tsp. three times per day.
Boost Your Natural Immunity Against Flu
In addition to the natural remedies for cold and flu above, there are natural ways to boost the immune system and make it stronger against the flu virus.
Quail Eggs Immunity Booster Cure
This is a year-long treatment that helps fortify the immune system against cold and flu. Follow the treatment for 15 days, pause for another 15, and then resume and so on for 1 full year. Mix well in one cup warm goat milk with 3 quail eggs (well whisked, both whites and yolks), 1 tsp. of honey, 1 pinch of cacao powder, and 1 pinch of vanilla essence, for taste. Use only fresh quail eggs! Drink this mixture early in the morning on an empty stomach, 20 minutes before breakfast. Goat milk is sheer miraculous and you may drink ½ L per day.
Honey and Echinacea
Add 50 ml of Echinacea tincture per 500 ml of honey. Have 1 teaspoon of this remedy 2-3 times per day. Echinacea is one of the most powerful natural antibiotics, which makes it one of the best natural remedies for cold and flu.
Honey and Vinegar
Add 1-2 tbsp of vinegar per one cup of water and sweeten with honey on your taste resulting in a tasty juice, full of calcium, magnesium, and vitamins.
Sea Water Treatment
If you have the possibility, fill a glass bottle with seawater, fresh and clean. Keep the seawater at room temperature and use it for frequent gargles during the day.
Read Also: How to Get Rid of Cold Fast
We hope you’ve found enough natural remedies for cold and flu to choose from. Let us know what remedies you use for cold or the flu, in the comments below. Stay healthy, naturally!
